Author(s): Wendy Brant
Edition: Hardcover, eBook, 328 pages
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Publication Date: April 4, 2017
Source: Rockstar Book Tours
Buy: Amazon - Barnes & Noble - Book Depository
Tour Schedule
Week One:
3/27/2017 - Two Chicks on Books - Interview
3/28/2017 - Here's to Happy Endings - Review
3/29/2017 - BookHounds YA - Guest Post
3/30/2017 - Just Commonly - Review
3/31/2017 - Happily Ever Chapter - Excerpt
3/28/2017 - Here's to Happy Endings - Review
3/29/2017 - BookHounds YA - Guest Post
3/30/2017 - Just Commonly - Review
3/31/2017 - Happily Ever Chapter - Excerpt
Week Two:
4/3/2017 - Eli to the nth - Review (ME!)
4/4/2017 - Literary Dust - Interview
4/5/2017 - Book Briefs - Review
4/6/2017 - Pretty Deadly Reviews - Guest Post
4/7/2017 - Savings in Seconds - Review
4/4/2017 - Literary Dust - Interview
4/5/2017 - Book Briefs - Review
4/6/2017 - Pretty Deadly Reviews - Guest Post
4/7/2017 - Savings in Seconds - Review
The Summary
Eva Walker is a seventeen-year-old math genius. And if that doesn’t do wonders for her popularity, there’s another thing that makes it even worse: when she touches another person or anything that belongs to them — from clothes to textbooks to cell phones — she sees a vision of their emotions. She can read a person’s fears and anxieties, their secrets and loves … and what they have yet to learn about calculus. This is helpful for her work as a math tutor, but it means she can never get close to people. Eva avoids touching anyone and everyone. People think it’s because she’s a clean freak — with the emphasis on freak — but it’s all she can do to protect herself from other people’s issues.
Then one day a new student walks into Eva’s life. His jacket gives off so much emotional trauma that she falls to the floor. Eva is instantly drawn to Zenn, a handsome and soulful artist who also has a troubled home life, and her feelings only grow when she realizes that she can touch Zenn’s skin without having visions. But when she discovers the history that links them, the truth threatens to tear the two apart.
My Opinion
Zenn Diagram by Wendy Brant is a great book to welcome Spring: a cute romance that truly feels developed mixed in with some supernatural powers results in a book you can read in one sitting.
Eva is a math wiz, which in typical contemporaries would make her a social outcast by default (gotta love those high school cliches). But refreshingly in Eva's case it isn't her math know-how that keeps her apart, it is her ability to read a person's emotions by a single touch. This self-inflicted exile masquerades as germaphobic, but it is a safe-guard. I can't say I blame her either as I can barely handle my own emotions let alone others'.
Zenn is the "new boy" at school, and the two meet during a math tutoring session. The longer they are together, the more of a crush Eva develops. Of course, Zenn is a mystery in and of himself to Eva, as his jacket gives off major emotional vibes, but she can touch his skin without a peep.
The touch of magical realism is refreshing in what would be a traditional YA romance. This supernatural element adds a hint of suspense to the overall story, but the romance is still center-stage. Brant manages to develop Eva and Zenn's relationship organically--there is no insta-love here, which could've been such an easy trope to fall into with the supernatural element. Ultimately, you learn how Eva and Zenn are connected, and you still keep on loving these two.
Light, quick, and cute, Zenn Diagram by Wendy Brant is a great new book to pull off the shelves.
Final Rating
About the Author
Wendy Brant: So my name alone should give you a clue that I graduated from high school when bangs were big and clothes were baggy. I went to Northwestern University and majored in journalism even though I had no desire to be a journalist. I've been married to a great guy for a whole drinking-aged person's life. I've got two amazing and yet very different (and very tall) teenage kids. I like crappy food, pinning inspirational quotes on Pinterest, have a tendency to start paragraphs with "anyway", and I wish I were funnier. I would love to be one of those really, REALLY funny bloggers (like Insane in the Mom-Brain) that makes you pee yourself a little bit. I am only moderately funny. I admit that. It's one of my great sadnesses in life.
I started writing fiction when I was 10, but tried to be practical with the whole journalism thing. Didn't take. Shortly after college, the fiction-writing desire reared its non-practical head and I've been writing ever since.
Anyway, I'm probably just like you. We'd probably be friends if we met in real life. (Well, let's be honest. It's likely that only my friends are actually reading this blog, so we probably ARE friends in real life.) But whether we are friends in real life, or just virtual friends through cyberspace, I hope you will enjoy your time here.
Check out my debut YA novel, ZENN DIAGRAM (KCP Loft 4/4/17), available for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Target!
